Creating an entry with impact

Designer Lauren Liess says that when her family moved into their dated 1970s house, the two-story entry was “scary and dingy feeling.”

With a few easy upgrades, she turned the dark and dreary space into one of the most welcoming places in her home.

“It had a lot of height,” Liess says of the foyer, “so I wanted something special and with high impact when you first walked in.”

Here, Liess shares her simple, affordable steps for enlivening an entry.

Ÿ Paint the front door.

“I wanted it to be a fun, happy color,” Liess says about the exterior of her front door. She narrowed her color choices to orange and teal; because Halloween was right around the corner, she went with orange (Maple Leaf by Behr).

Ÿ Repaint walls and trim.

To immediately refresh and brighten the large, dark space, Liess repainted using a no-chemical white paint (Beach Pearl by Freshaire Choice, available at Home Depot).

Ÿ Remove carpeting.

The stairs were covered in white-wall-to-wall carpeting, which would never have stood up to a family of four, says Liess, who removed the carpet and painted the stairs, using deck paint for extra durability (Ultra White by Behr).

Ÿ Cover up dingy linoleum.

Liess upgraded the grimy vinyl flooring on her entry landing quickly and easily by covering it with wall-to-wall seagrass carpeting. For continuity, and an extra layer of protection, Liess continued the seagrass as a runner on the newly painted stairs. “I love the natural, textural look and feel” of seagrass, says Liess. “It’s kid-friendly, pet-friendly and so affordable.”

Ÿ Install a new light fixture.

Liess swapped out the too-small existing pendant light that cast an unattractive yellow glow for a dramatic, 3½-foot gilded iron lantern. “I wanted a focal point, and something long and linear, to fill up the big space,” she says.

Ÿ Create a salon-style wall.

Liess used torn-out pages of sketches from da Vinci’s “Leonardo’s Notebooks,” (Black Dog/Leventhal Publishers, $40) and 30 metal frames to create a statement wall for under $300. The frames were bought online at www.americanframe.com. “They came in pieces, so we had to put them together,” she says. “It took hours.”

Liess says decided against hanging the frames in a grid: “My home is more relaxed and I wanted a relaxed vibe, so I went with hanging them randomly.”

Ÿ Add something quirky.

Liess fell in love with a large vintage portrait painting at an antiques market. It doesn’t match the framed da Vinci sketches, but that’s exactly why Liess likes it there. “I always like to add something ‘off’ in every space,” she says. “Something that shouldn’t quite work, so the room doesn’t feel perfectly done.”